Gates Richest In The World, Again; HP's Fiorina Gets $10M Package

And the award for world's richest person goes to...
Bill
Gates
Bill Gates
. Again. Microsoft's
chief software architect has a net worth of $40.7 billion, easily beating out the second-richest man, Berkshire Hathaway's
Warren
Buffett
Warren Buffett
, who has a mere $30.5 billion. Americans once again dominated The World's Richest People list in 2003. It's been a rough year for the global economy--and even the superrich felt the pinch. There are 476 billionaires in the world -- 21 less than last year. One of the few who became richer in the past year is Oprah Winfrey, who talked her way into billionaire-dom.

Hewlett-Packard
Chief Executive
Carly
Fiorina
Carly Fiorina
got a pay package worth more than $10 million last year, according to filings. The No. 1 personal computer and printer maker also raised the maximum bonus Fiorina could receive to $12 million from $9 million annually, citing her increased responsibilities after the HP-Compaq merger.
Michael
Capellas
Michael Capellas
, the former Compaq CEO, received more than $26 million after resigning to take up the daunting reins of WorldCom
. The telecommunications company will pay him as much as $5 million in salary and bonuses and $18 million in restricted stock. HP shares rose 1% to close at $15.54 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, but have lost more than 14% this week. More...

To increase, or not to increase... Fiat's
relationship with General Motors
is solid, but differences remain, the industrial group's newly-christened Chairman
Umberto
Agnelli
Umberto Agnelli
told Italian broadcasters on Friday. One of these seems to be GM's Hamlet-like vaccilation whether to participate in the five billion-euro capital increase of the car arm of Fiat. On Friday, GM spokeswoman Toni Simonetti reiterated what everyone already knew: "We have been in discussions with Fiat, but we have not reached a decision to participate in the recapitalization of Fiat Auto Holdings B.V." GM currently has a 20% stake in Fiat Auto. The same day, the Fiat group's Chief Financial Officer Ferruccio Luppi said a planned five billion-euro capital increase for the car arm of Fiat will be enough to fund a turnaround plan through to 2005. "The capital increase of five billion euros will be sufficient to remain comfortable, more than sufficient for the plan. We do not expect any other rights issue in the future," declared Luppi.

There's a reason why 90% of Forbes.com readers approve of the job James Parker is doing as CEO of Southwest Airlines
. While carriers such as Northwest Airlines
, Continental Airlines
and AMR's
American Airlines announced some kind of fuel surcharge earlier this month, Parker did not budge. "You are not going to see Southwest adding a $10 fuel surcharge, for example, which is just a gussied up name for a fare increase," he said. One of the only things that could make him change his mind on fare increases is war. Parker also said that a war could jeopardize his firm posting a first quarter profit. Parker's straight talk--and results--have endeared him to the cognoscenti. His was the only major U.S. airline to post a profit in 2002. More...

At least they waited until after the holidays... Goldman Sachs Group
, which posted an 8% decline in 2002 earnings, cut Chief Executive
Henry
Paulson
Henry Paulson
's 2002 compensation package by 36%. Paulson, 56, is in good company on this account: Citigroup
CEO
Sandy
Weill
Sandy Weill
declined to take a stock or cash bonus for 2002 because of his firm's financial performance, the banking giant said. And Morgan Stanley
announced it slashed
Philip
Purcell
Philip Purcell
's annual pay 26%, citing choppy market waters. Paulson, who recently found himself apologizing to outraged employees for ill-planned comments he'd made (see "Hank the Butcher"), got a total package worth $12.1 million, including a $6.3 million bonus, according to the company's proxy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2001, Goldman paid him $18.9 million, with a bonus of $11.6 million, making it Paulson's third pay cut in a row. Goldman shares fell 27% last year. More...

How's your spring house cleaning going? The Bush Administration's sweep of its economic team is proceeding apace. The latest casualty has been Glenn Hubbard, who played a vital role forming President Bush's economic policy. The chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers resigned Thursday. The administration quickly nominated Harvard University professor Gregory Mankiw to fill the position. Hubbard designed the president's $695 billion tax-cut package plan, which includes the innovative proposal to eliminate double taxation of corporate dividends. A White House spokeswoman said Hubbard, a former Columbia University professor, planned to return to academia, but offered no details. Hubbard's departure follows the resignations of Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, White House economic aide Lawrence Lindsey and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt. The president hopes his revamped team will be as good at selling his economic plan as his foreign policy team has been at making the case against Saddam Hussein. More...

Dutch retail and food service group Ahold
saw its shares fall another 25% on Wednesday, as it said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had joined an accounting probe. On Monday, Ahold's Chief Executive Officer
Cees van der
Hoeven
Cees van der Hoeven
and Chief Financial Officer Michael Meurs resigned, and a number of U.S. managers have been suspended. The group's supervisory board Chairman
Henny de
Ruiter
Henny de Ruiter
is now acting CEO. The third-biggest business of its kind in the world, Ahold has lost almost 80% of its market value since it first revealed on Monday that its auditors Deloitte & Touche had uncovered accounting irregularities. The group will restate its earnings for 2000, 2001 and the first three quarters of 2002. The Financial Times argues that an external CEO candidate is crucial if de Ruiter has any hope of restoring confidence in the group. But he could choose an internal candidate, like European operations head
Jan
Andreae
Jan Andreae
or President and CEO of Ahold USA retail,
William
Grize
William Grize
, according to Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad. "The SEC opened an inquiry into accounting irregularities at Ahold and U.S. Foodservice and other matters related to disclosure," an Ahold spokewoman said. "We have been working with the SEC for a little while now, providing them with the information they require," she added. By midmorning, Ahold was 22.94% weaker at 2.52 euros--levels not seen in more than 15 years. More...

Chief Executive
Scott
McNealy
Scott McNealy
says Sun Microsystems
is leading the industry in next-generation computing--and making gains in the education market. And the CEO said he believes the company he co-founded in 1982 has always led the computer industry. "When I look back, I'd say we were 20 years ahead of where most of the world was at the time," McNealy, 48, said in an interview following the first day of Sun's yearly financial and industry analyst conference. "Java was 10 years ahead." But the straight-talking McNealy concedes that Sun is in choppy waters at the moment: Revenue fell to $12.6 billion in its fiscal year ended last June, from $18.3 billion the previous year. Sun stock now trades at $3.42 compared with more than $64 in September 2000. "We're in the penalty box right now," said McNealy, drawing a metaphor from his love of manly ice hockey. "We're not giving [financial] guidance and that scares some people." When Sun posted fiscal Q2 results on Jan. 16, it said it would stop giving mid-quarter updates and declined to comment on clients' spending plans, saying the economy was too murky. But the CEO said Sun is still a force to be reckoned with, as it battles competitors Hewlett-Packard
and IBM
--both of which outlined their own strategies for automated computing. "At $3.40 a share, we're still a $10 billion company [in market capitalization]," said McNealy. "That's not chump change." More...

News items can be submitted to Greg Levine at glevine@forbes.net or by calling him at (212) 366-8900.

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